Kenneth L. Wrote:
Dec 27, 2012 3:55 PM
The punctuation ratified by the states is "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Because "being" is not an active verb it seems clear that the more ambiguous punctuation still does not logically qualify the right. It does NOT say "...the right of [those] people serving in a militia to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." In any case, the official amendment ratified by the states is perfectly unambiguous. Whatever the rationale, the right exists as articulated in the latter, predicate statement: the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.